[2 of 2 customers found this review helpful]

RCA M4002 Opal 2GB Digital Media MP3 and MP4 Video Player Review

My OPAL is Great

"OK, this little MP3 player has a lot of pro's and con's. Bad news first...



In order for this device to work properly for you, the user must be someone who "takes good care of their things". Its firmware is rather delicate and prone to several different types of failures. RCA does however have a website where you can download for free a good firmware update. When you load the new firmware though, it essentially formats the OPAL which will allow you to reload the player with music, pictures, videos or soundbytes. If you did the update correctly, the OPAL will perform like a champion. Loading up songs and videos is SSSLLLOOOWWW with this device, but once their in there, the sound quality goes toe to toe with the best players on the market. The battery system is probably the biggest issue I have with the OPAL. SSSLLLOOOWWW charging through the USB port (8 hours minimum charge time) that gives you about 6 hours of playback time. To add to the battery issue, it's internal to the unit, so when it ultimately craps out on you it will NOT be an easy fix. You can however extend the life of your rechargeable battery if you adhere to the owners manual and charge the unit for 3 hours minimum before using it (something that I failed to do). Personaly I would recommend charging the battery to its fullest capacity before using even if it goes on for over three hours. This is because its a little known fact that rechargeable batteries become "set" in their capacity after the first few charges. If you charge fully in the beginning, the capacity gets "set" high. If you charge short, the future storage capacity of a rechargeable battery becomes severly affected.



Now the good news. I use a Windows XP system with my OPAL and it works great. I pull music down from NAPSTER, ZUNE and my own ripped CD's, and all of them load onto the OPAL just fine. The unit is small, lightweight, thin and very easy to operate. Signal push is nothing short of spectacular when using powered PC speakers or headphones. Earbuds? Yeah it comes with a pair, and they work just fine, but with a real set of studio quality headphones this little player will absolutly surprise you with its delivery. Signal push through a home stereo system however seems to be "labor intensive" for the OPAL. You generally have to have the home system on 75% volume or more and the OPAL on full blast to get a reasonably robust level of sound out of the speakers. Menu navigation is simple, direct and easy to read. The LCD display is remarkably sharp and clear for such a tiny screen, but using the LCD a lot does pull a good bit more power out of the battery.



Overall, I really like my OPAL, but its not a device for someone who can't "baby" it. To sucessfully own and operate an OPAL, you should be the type of person who regularly changes the oil in your car, the filters in your AC unit and vaccuum, and takes the time out to keep virus' and clutter programs off of your computer. In other words; you just care for your things well. Take proper care of your OPAL and it will serve you well. I've had mine for almost a year now, and its still going strong."